The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor leaguebasketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Development League (NBA D-League) from 2005 until 2017.[1] The league started with eight teams until NBA commissioner David Stern announced a plan to expand the NBA D-League to fifteen teams and develop it into a true minor leaguefarm system, with each NBA D-League team affiliated with one or more NBA teams in March 2005. At the conclusion of the 2013–14 NBA season, 33% of NBA players had spent time in the NBA D-League, up from 23% in 2011. As of the 2018–19 season, the league consists of 27 teams, all of which are either single-affiliated or owned by an NBA team.

In the 2017–18 season, Gatorade became the title sponsor of the D-League, and it was renamed the NBA G League.[2][1]

After the 2006 to 2009 expansions, the league membership was fairly consistent with only a few relocations and suspensions. In 2009, the Houston Rockets entered into the first single-affiliation partnership, called the hybrid model, with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. This began a wave of NBA and D-League teams entering into single-affiliation agreements of both the hybrid and parent-team owned varieties. With more NBA involvement, the league once again began to expand and spread its footprint.

In December 2017, the NBA and the live streaming website Twitch announced that they would broadcast G League games on Twitch.tv.[18] ESPN U, ESPNews, and ESPN2 also aired some 2017–18 regular season and playoff games.[citation needed] Games have also been aired on the ESPN Plus subscription service.

For the 2019–20 season, the G League will begin to offer Select Contracts to players that are not yet eligible to enter the NBA Draft.[19] Since 2006, players that are not at least 19-years-old by the end of the calendar year have been ineligible, creating what became known as the "one-and-done" rule where players joined a college basketball team for one season and then leave for the NBA.[20] The new Select Contract is to be an alternative for players who do not want to or cannot attend a college, worth up to $125,000 for a season.[21]

Ownership models vary across the NBA G League. Growing willingness among NBA organizations to invest in the G League has led to two main models: direct ownership of G League teams by parent NBA clubs and single-affiliate partnerships in which the G League team remains independently owned while the parent club runs and finances basketball operations.

In some cases, the hybrid affiliation led to the parent team buying their affiliate's franchise outright. On March 24, 2015, the Utah Jazz purchased their affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, and after one more season in Boise relocated the team to Salt Lake City. On April 11, 2016, the Phoenix Suns purchased their affiliate, the Bakersfield Jam, and announced the immediate relocation of the team to Prescott Valley, Arizona, as the Northern Arizona Suns beginning with the 2016–17 season.[25] On October 20, 2016, the Sacramento Kings bought the majority ownership of their affiliate of the previous eight seasons, the Reno Bighorns,[29] and would eventually move the team to Stockton, California as the Stockton Kings after the 2017–18 G League season.[30] On December 14, 2016, the Magic purchased their affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, with the intention to relocate the team to Lakeland, Florida, in 2017.[31] In 2017, the Miami Heat purchased the controlling interest in the Sioux Falls Skyforce after being its primary affiliate since 2013.

On November 10, 2016, the Atlanta Hawks announced that they had bought and established a new D-League team that will play in a new arena in nearby College Park beginning with the 2019–20 season.[32] In the 2017–18 season, the Hawks' G League franchise began play as the Erie BayHawks, following the Magic's purchase of the original franchise, until the arena in College Park is completed.[33] The team name was announced as the College Park Skyhawks.

On October 12, 2015, it was announced that Omaha, Nebraska, was pursuing a D-League franchise. Gary Green, the owner of the Omaha Storm Chasers, said the NBA approved the idea of a franchise while also mentioning the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets as possible affiliates. Green said, "We've had talks with the NBA and the guys in the D-League and they absolutely want to have a team in Omaha... We have a deal with the D-League in place, we just gotta find a franchise now." The potential home for an Omaha team could be CHI Health Center Omaha (known as CenturyLink Center Omaha in 2015), Ralston Arena, or Baxter Arena.[36][37]

On December 7, 2017, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that he was looking into having a G League expansion team in Mexico City potentially as early as 2018.[38] It would be the NBA's first official permanent team in Mexico to test the market after playing exhibition and regular season games in the city.[39]

NBA G League players generally do not sign contracts with the individual teams, but with the league itself. G League team rosters consist of a total of 12 players, 10 (or fewer) being G League players and two (or more) NBA players. The rosters are made up in a number of ways: the previous years' players, players taken in the G League draft, allocation players (meaning players who are assigned to a team with which they have a local connection, such as a University of Texas player being assigned to the Austin Spurs) and NBA team assignments. Each team also has local tryouts, and one player from the tryouts is assigned to the team.

The minimum age to play in the G League is 18,[40] unlike the NBA which requires players to be 19 years old and one year out of high school in order to sign an NBA contract or be eligible for the draft. The base annual salary is US$35,000 plus housing and insurance benefits. Players who are called up for NBA get bonuses totalling up to US$50,000.[41]

The NBA G League Draft occurs each season and is the major source from which teams build their rosters. Team rosters are made up of returning players (players who were on the team during the previous season), players waived by an NBA team who are designated as an affiliate player to their respective G League affiliate, allocated players (players who have local significance), and drafted players. The 8 round draft utilizes a "serpentine" format, meaning the order alternates in each round; Team A who selected first in Round 1 will select last in Round 2, while Team B who selected last in Round 1 will get the first pick in Round 2. Round 3 was added in 2014,

The league holds an annual Player Invitational, where prospects hope to earn eligibility for the upcoming draft.[42]

Players waived by an NBA team during training camp and up until the start of the regular season can be designated as affiliate players and allocated to the NBA team's G League affiliate. Each team is allowed four affiliate players. These are players that an NBA team is interested in developing in their own system. The affiliate players, however, still remain as free agents that any NBA team can sign.[43]

Each NBA team can assign two first-year or second-year players who are under a standard NBA contract to its affiliated G League team. If more than two NBA players are assigned to a team, the team must reduce the number of G League players to keep the total roster size to 12. An NBA player will continue to be paid his NBA salary and will continue to be included on his NBA team's roster on the inactive list while playing in the G League.[44]

NBA teams can call up players as many times as they choose, and there is no limit to the number of times an NBA player with three years or less experience can be assigned to the G League. Starting in 2011–12, veteran NBA players could be assigned with their consent.[45] The first example of such was with Yi Jianlian, who the Dallas Mavericks assigned to the Texas Legends for two games.

The 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement for the NBA, which took effect with the 2017–18 season, included changes allowing each NBA team to sign two players to two-way contracts. These players will spend the majority of their time on a team's G League roster, but can freely move to their respective NBA team for up to 45 days in the regular season, as well as be a part of the team's roster before the start of the season (including NBA training camps) and after the conclusion of the G League's regular season (though they are not allowed to be on a team's playoff roster or play in a playoff game).[46] Only players with four or less years of NBA experience are eligible for two-way contracts.[47] Unlike other G League players, who can be called up by any NBA team, two-way players can only be called up by their contracted NBA team. Players under two-way contracts are not counted against the NBA team's regular roster limit, and can be assigned to a G League affiliate for development while also getting a larger salary whenever they are called up to the parent team. For teams that do not have a one-to-one affiliation with a G League team, a process similar to the "flexible assignment" rule is being used to determine the placement for their own two-way contracts in the G League until every team has their proper affiliation underway. In addition, salaries for two-way players are much higher than those for regular G League players. As of the 2017–18 season, G League players who are not on two-way contracts earn either $19,500 or $26,000 during the league's season.[1] By contrast, two-way players' salaries while in the G League, which are pro-rated according to the number of days the player is with his G League team, are based on an annual salary between $50,000 and $75,000,[48] and while these players are with their NBA team, they will earn a pro-rated portion of the NBA minimum rookie salary (which was $815,615 in the 2017–18 season).[49]

^"CBA Principal Deal Points". NBA. August 4, 2005. Retrieved January 19, 2011. The player will continue to be paid his NBA salary and will continue to be included on his NBA team's roster (on the inactive list) while playing in the NBADL.